People who’ve built up a million-pound pension pot are in fact not big risk takers when it comes to investing their money, instead favouring tried and tested approaches.

While pension millionaires appear to prefer individual shares, they don’t seem to take big risks, with large UK businesses that have stood the test of time proving most popular.

Both pre and post retirement, they seem to opt for blue chips such as BP, Vodafone and Unilever.

Pension millionaires’ preferred shares – listed alphabetically

Analysis of 1,500 pension millionaires by Hargreaves Lansdown found they favour investing in the stock market, with direct shares accounting for almost half of all assets invested. The other half is invested through funds, with less than 10% invested passively.

Income funds are popular among pension millionaires, with four of the top 10 most popular picks of pre-retirees invested in search of income. Post-retirement, this jumps to seven of the top 10.

Top choices include Artemis Income, Fundsmith Equity, Woodford Equity Income and Newton Global Income.

Pension millionaires’ preferred funds – listed alphabetically

Hargreaves said a £1m pension fund could provide an income of around £40,000 a year.

“Becoming a pension millionaire may not be possible for everybody, but taking hold of the investment reins can provide the chance for a bigger retirement income, greater flexibility when leaving the workplace, or both,” says Hargreaves’ senior analyst, Nathan Long.

The two key ways of giving yourself a fighting chance of building up a million-pound pension pot is start early and improve your investment returns, says Hargreaves.

“Getting started can be easier than you think with many investment brokers providing their list of the top funds available. If you are still unsure, paying for financial advice could reap handsome rewards,” says Long.